Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

I have never read Rose Tremain so it should be interesting. One of the members picked the book up at a yard sale for 25 cents and really liked it.
I am interested in the Zero book. Apparently the churches thought it was devil worship or something.
I nominated "Round House" by Louise Erdich. She writes about Native Americans and their lives on our reservations. It is our unspoken shame. It won the National Book Awatd and is marvelous.

You can tell that lady in your group (I'm assuming it was a lady as thrifty ¢25 purchase says 75 year-old lady, to me) that one of you online members think that Rose Tremain is a great writer, and approves of the choice.

I'm looking forward to your updates, Susan.

I’m just about to start Instructions for a Heatwave which was recommended by Barbara, I see a few of the ladies in the group have read this book and have given it high marks, so I hope it lives up to the hype.

I started reading Flannery O'Connor's collected works. She's very earthy and probably not for everyone. Her characters are all strange and a little creepy. I am enjoying her first story "Wise Blood." It's very weird though. It puts me in an odd mood I can't describe but that's what Southern Gothic does. I like it in a odd way . The thing is that she is so good at description that I keep reading. I guess I like things a little murky sometimes. We all have variable tastes. I am also a fan of light and funny which is the exact opposite of Flannery O'Conner. She really grips you and takes you into a different mindset while you read her.


Off Topic, I joined a few too many groups in my newbie enthusiasm. I started with just this group and kept adding. I was looking through and saw that I posted 1 or 2 or no comments on some of the groups. So I did some fall cleaning so to speak and dropped all but 2.

@Kate. I read the blurb, which sets the book up beautifully, and decided to go ahead and add it, too. Susan and Barbara gave it excellent reviews and Kirsty gave it a 4* rating. This will be book 100 on my to-read pile.

@Jamielynn. I'm glad to see we made the cut. That's put a huge smile on my face on a rainy afternoon.

Allan. That was a beautiful comment.

Declan, and Allan, this really is a great group. Such nice people and interesting discussions. Never a dull moment and everyone is so friendly.

Well, I don't know about 'everyone.' Lol!

@Allan, we are so happy you joined the group. You have really livened it up with your charm and links to wonderful articles. By the way, that article you shared on "Crime and Privilege" really led me down the garden path. It was dreadful. I kept thinking "Is it over yet?" When you long for John Grisham you know you are in trouble.
@Declan, I know you are blushing but you reallly are a great moderator. I know because my English cozy mysteries one is not.

I've got to say, I really enjoy moderating this group. I love doing it actually. And I love hearing that other members are enjoying it, too.

Beautifully said Allan and Susan. I agree with everything you both said.

So keep blushing Declan and you too Allan!

Awww mushy stuff is so nice!

Jamielynn wrote: "I started reading Flannery O'Connor's collected works. She's very earthy and probably not for everyone. Her characters are all strange and a little creepy. I am enjoying her first story "Wise Blood..."

Oh, I love Flannery O'Connor's writing Jamielynn. I hope you enjoy the rest of her stories. The stories are definitely a little "off," but every so often, she'll throw in some detail about a character that's so quirky, I can't help but laugh.

Allan wrote: "Continuing the off topic thread, when I originally joined Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ I did so for book recommendations generated once my own books were added-I didn't even pick up on the fact that there were groups..."

And your and Declan's photos...Don't forget those.

Jamielynn wrote: "Beautifully said Allan and Susan. I agree with everything you both said.

So keep blushing Declan and you too Allan!

Awww mushy stuff is so nice!"
Yes, yes to all of the above.

Maybe that's why we work so well?

Maybe I should make up a maxim in the group's description? "Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Ireland: We like the mushy stuff."

Susan wrote: "@Allan, we are so happy you joined the group. You have really livened it up with your charm and links to wonderful articles. By the way, that article you shared on "Crime and Privilege" really led ..."

I have to add that yesterday I shared information on events in Belfast commemorating Louis MacNeice Week with friends who love poetry and MacNeice. I get emails from Queen's University Heaney Poetry Centre because I did a summer course there a few years back. Then we have Allan here who shares lots of information on writers etc in Northern Ireland. So my friends are impressed saying I am "very well connected" :) It's very much thanks to this group.
And I second, third and fourth Declan's dedication as a moderator. Also, being self-effacing is required in Ireland because you never want to get a big head or others will make your life miserable. Having said that, we must continue to applaud Declan while accepting his modesty, which is genuine (and will save his skin :)

Most of my friends wouldn't call me modest. And when I tell them some of think I'm self-effacing they'll have a right giggle at that. As you alluded to, Barbara, they do try to make my life miserable because of it.

Speaking of non-mushy reads, I'm currently being horrified by Brave New World by Huxley. It's even more chilling than I was expecting it to be (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54...).

Even though I have loads of "to be read" books on my virtual and real bookshelves, I'm very eager to read a new book called Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. I read about the author, I think here, (probably one of Allan's posts from The Guardian) and it sounds like it would be a great weekend read. It's set in Iceland in the 1800s about a woman accused of murder. The town bookshop is carrying it, so I'm hoping to pick up a copy in the next couple of days.

@Sara. I haven't read the sequel but I really enjoyed the original. There were aspects that I thought dated badly, but the use of Shakespeare was inspired; especially towards the end of the novel.

@Cathleen. I'm sure it was Allan who posted the link for Barbara, and I added it to my own list. I have to say, I love the set-up. How would you someone cope in such a scenario.

Declan wrote: "Most of my friends wouldn't call me modest. And when I tell them some of think I'm self-effacing they'll have a right giggle at that. As you alluded to, Barbara, they do try to make my life miserab..."

I KNEW it:) !!

Cathleen wrote: "Even though I have loads of "to be read" books on my virtual and real bookshelves, I'm very eager to read a new book called Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. I read about the author, I think here, (prob..."

I am tempted to get the e-book as it won't be in our library for a while.

Allan wrote: "I have to say as I have said in the past, Barbara, that I have learnt as much about NI and Irish writers from you as you have from me, for which I am very grateful! Indeed, thanks to your heads up,..."

Another thing for me to brag about with my fellow MacNeice fans. I'm envious and so glad you got 2 tickets!
Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Ireland is the place that has convinced me to read Steinbeck, an American author. I have East of Eden and perhaps will have to wait til the winter holidays to get to it.

@Barbara I may be in the same boat with Steinbeck. In high school, I had to read an excerpt of Grapes of Wrath. I was bored out of my mind and completely turned off of Steinbeck...I recently, however, revisited Great Gatsby (a book I also disliked in high school) and loved it. I've been thinking it might be fun to revisit all the books I was assigned in high school and compare my reactions.

This may be out of left field, but can anyone recomend a book about the Viking siege of Paris in 885/886 A.D. or Viking history generally. I've been working my way through the Northlanders graphic novel series by Brian Wood () and it's sparked my interest in that time period.

Declan wrote: "Most of my friends wouldn't call me modest. And when I tell them some of think I'm self-effacing they'll have a right giggle at that. As you alluded to, Barbara, they do try to make my life miserab..."

How is a right giggle different from a left giggle? Just wondering.

Sara wrote: "@Barbara I may be in the same boat with Steinbeck. In high school, I had to read an excerpt of Grapes of Wrath. I was bored out of my mind and completely turned off of Steinbeck...I recently, howe..."

In my in person book group we read a classic every six months. We've read "The Scarlet Letter" and "Tom Sawyer" and liked them way more now than in high school. We read "Crime and Punishment" here, a book I never would have read on my own. It's amazing how our perspective changes.

Sara wrote: "Speaking of non-mushy reads, I'm currently being horrified by Brave New World by Huxley. It's even more chilling than I was expecting it to be (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54......"

Sara I read that a few yrs ago. It's a very strange book. Huxley was an LSD addict and requested it to be given to him in his deathbed. He got what he wanted. That's another one of those books that sticks with you because it's so dark.

Cathleen wrote: "Jamielynn wrote: "I started reading Flannery O'Connor's collected works. She's very earthy and probably not for everyone. Her characters are all strange and a little creepy. I am enjoying her first..."


Cathleen she is very clever with character description. She's so weird though. I hope she didn't know anyone in real life who resembles some of those characters LOL WOW! That would be a strange world!

Declan wrote: "Maybe that's why we work so well?

Maybe I should make up a maxim in the group's description? "Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Ireland: We like the mushy stuff.""

Haha Declan Ireland the land of syrup and saccarine!

Susan wrote: "@Allan, the Number One Ladies is just such a romp. It's a "traditional" sized lady in Botswana where real wealth is still measured in cattle ownership. It;s her making her way in a modern culture n..."

This is an impressive list. What a good idea to have books chosen so far in advance. It really gives members a chance to find the books. And having the books available in your library box is great! I often have to repeatedly "push" my book groups to choose books that are available in paperback and available as well in local libraries. This proves hard often in the group that reads contemporary Irish literature. Being of the "thifty New England Yankee" persuasion, I have calculated that if I have to buy the hardcover or order from Ireland/UK, pay for parking, and buy dinner (I'm coming from work so an evening meal is called for) it can cost me up towards $40. And as the contestants say on The Price Is Right - "that's too much!" I have another book club that I started attending late last spring. We meet in a trendy "lefty" restaurant. Because they have opened a small bookstore in the restaurant, and provide us a big space just for us, our own dedicated servers (waiter/waitress), and free coffee, and we meet at 9 am on a Saturday, I do go out of my way to buy the book at their store, and order breakfast. And this brings me to another topic I will save for another time - the challenge of finding places to hold book groups (and other kinds of group meetings - knitting, moms with infants etc.).

I find I am getting behind in replying to various posts:)

Jamielyn - I also like Martha Grimes though I haven't read any of hers in a while.
Allan- I will keep in mind Steinbeck on audio. I will put some on my Wish List. The good thing about having a Wish List is that you get an alert from Audible if the book goes on sale.

Declan - if we are syrupy and full of saccharine, there are plenty of Dubs that would make our lives miserable with the teasing, sigh. It's one thing I love about true Dubs.

@Susan. Using 'right' like that is just for emphasis. It's. People us it in the UK , I know, and I'm pretty sure it's used like that in Australia, too.

As an aside, 'right' is used in Ireland, and I think especially in Dublin, to mean ready. But only as a question by asking 'are you right?'

@Susan and Jamielynn. I think Ireland have a kind of sentimental, sappy streak. People make fun of it, but it's kind of accepted as this stage. After all, we do produce an astonishing amount of feel-good movies and chick-lit for such a small country.

Barbara I like Grimes' earlier books better than the more recent ones. She is fun to read though.

Boy these Ireland threads run fast!

@Jamielynn. I meant chick-lit, but we do have the occasional chick flick, too. They're not all made by Irish studios.

Have you heard of or ?

They were all made for American audiences and the other thing they all have in common is the couples are comprised of an American woman and an Irish man (Just like P.S. I Love You). Both of those films are pretty offensive to me, by the way. I just hate PSILY without being particularly offended.

The link for The Matchmaker is for the whole movie.

A great way to say goodbye to the one you love is to ruin them for other partners in the future.

Because, as we all know, nothing helps future relationships more than the spectre of an unmatchable, dearly missed, deceased, former lover looming in the background.

Jamielynn wrote: "Huxley was an LSD addict a genius."

I polished that up a bit there for ya ;)

Seriously though: Jamielynn wrote: "That's another one of those books that sticks with you because it's so dark. " this interested me. I wouldn't call it "dark" per-say. I'd actually call it aggressively bright and colourful which, of course, acts as the trap for the inhabitants of that world. The theme's themselves even; It's not like 1984 where we're plunged into a world where suspicion is everywhere and dark corners are dangerous and lonely, the theme of Brave New World is not so much about humanity becoming closed off and dark, rather than it is about us becoming too bright and open (sexually, psychologically and materialistically). If that makes sense? I think it's interesting that you see a darkness there, in comparison to me who would only see a kind of blinding colour.

I have to say, Niall, in a world were love doesn't exist and words like 'mother' and 'son' are as taboo and shameful as bastard used to be, there has to some sort of compensation and that would be were the materialism and promiscuity come in.

When they watch the movie (or is it feely, or something else like that) the love-sick villain underlines why that society has left love and family behind: Emotions make people unstable. People can't imagine their lives without these things so to fill the void we have materialism, orgy-porgy and soma.

I kind of relate to your point, though. As horrible as the 'brave new world seemed,' it never seemed terrible or frightening in any real way.

@LMM. But that's why it doesn't make sense to me. The whole process was to help her move on, but I can only see that impeding the process.

Declan wrote: "@LMM. But that's why it doesn't make sense to me. The whole process was to help her move on, but I can only see that impeding the process."

>Assuming that popular romantic fiction has any sense
Fail Declan, mega fail!

@Niall. So, because you poo-poo the genre we shouldn't hold it up to the same standards as other genres? Are you telling me romantic fiction gets a pass from the normal criticism we'd extend to, I don't know, historical, literary and science fiction? If so, why?

@LMM. You don't think that it's inappropriate that the man she loved is helping her to get over the man she loved?

I think any normal person would want the same. Who wants to leave behind sad and lonely loved ones?

Not the genre, more the "pop" sub genre that's sprang up out of it. I see your point though and I'll apologize for being a bit arrogant/ignorant there. It's hard to take the romance genre as seriously for me personally, seeing as it is flooded (really flooded) with novels that seem practically the same and also seem to be proud of the fact that they're generic and un-inventive. I like romance, when the romance isn't cringe but it's becoming increasingly more difficult to find true romance in my opinion. I understand my concept of true romance may be different to others but I think a lot can agree that what's popping up on the shelves these days that passes as romance just ends up grating away at you with it's naivety?

It's seems part of the machine that is the corporate agenda, selling quantity over quality in many cases

@Niall. That can happen in any genre, though. I remember Terry Pratchett once commented that anyone could have written the typical fantasy novel around the time he turned his hand t it. All you needed was a valiant hero and a dark lord, and Bob's your uncle. Fortunately, capable writers like Pratchett make it their business climb above the rest of the mundane stuff.

I'm trying to think of a decent story aimed at men with a decent romantic streak, but anything that comes close usually involves said man risking his life to save his love interest.

@LMM. Point taken. But it is something I struggle to relate with on any level.

Declan wrote: "@Susan. Using 'right' like that is just for emphasis. It's. People us it in the UK , I know, and I'm pretty sure it's used like that in Australia, too.

As an aside, 'right' is used in Ireland, and..."

I'm sorry, Declan. It was supposed to be a joke. I'm dumb just not dumb. I hate when a joke goes flat.

I knew that 'left' was meant in humour, Susan, but I still thought you weren't clear on the use of right in that context. Lol!

Declan wrote: "@Jamielynn. I meant chick-lit, but we do have the occasional chick flick, too. They're not all made by Irish studios.

Have you heard of The Matchmaker or Leap Year?

They were all made for America..."

Yes these movies make it hard to object so much to The Quiet Man :) (see our movie discussion thread).

Barbara, I think I've said before (possibly in the movie the movie thread) that The Quiet Man is more racist than Nazi propaganda.

The Quiet Man in 5 seconds: "Faith an' begorah! I'd better not have any more whiskey or I'll be too drunk to beat the missus."

How every Irish person alive isn't offended by that movie, I'll never know.

@Declan, I am just a little grumpy. I had my other eye done yesterday and can't seem to read. I will have to switch to my Kindle I guess.